In case you missed it, Glenn’s birthday was August 27th. It was a great day for both of us.

Glenn got to sleep in while I got an early start on my homework. When he got up and had had his first cup of coffee, he decided he was hungry and we went downstairs and ordered food from Miguel, the owner of a little food truck outside our apartment called “Hot Dog Heaven,” though his specialties are sandwiches and wraps of his own creation, and are honestly some of the best I’ve ever had. Miguel had lived in the US and worked as a safety inspector for many years, but got laid off when his department consolidated. He returned to Mayagüez and has his food truck now as the only way he’s been able to make a living. Being that he’d been a safety inspector, he is meticulous about keeping his gear clean and we know that we never have to worry about eating unclean food from him. Since we like Miguel and it’s convenient (and cheap!) to order food from Miguel, Glenn and I have been going down there almost every day for brunch/lunch. Glenn will open our window, yell down our orders to Miguel, and 10 minutes later when we finally go downstairs, our meals are on the table waiting for us. Since we have become regular customers, Miguel uses Glenn as his guinea pig to try out his new creations. They are always amazingly delicious. Glenn never complains.

After his birthday brunch at Hot Dog Heaven, we came back up to the apartment because Glenn had an interview on Skype. He got the job! He’s going to be a recruit/scout and help high school athletes here in Puerto Rico get noticed by US universities. Sadly, there really aren’t as many high schools here that have sports programs as Glenn would have liked (which is actually more sad for the kids who aren’t able to play sports at their school). Even the most affluent high school in our immediate area has a poor athletic program, according to Dave and Sunna (our neighbors that we first met in Korea).

Anyway, it was great news that Glenn got this gig as a part-time job. Though, originally, I had wanted to take Glenn to the movies for his birthday, he decided that he would rather chill out at home and watch some Youtube videos for the afternoon. This worked out well for me because I was able to finish an assignment while he did that. (My one class, Teaching Reading in a Second Language, requires that we read 5 chapters and write 4 essays per week. Imagine my happiness at being able to finish reading the 5 chapters and writing the first essay that afternoon!)

Glenn, during his interview:

Eventually, we started to get hungry and I took Glenn up to his favorite restaurant, Villa Cofresí, in Rincón (where we stayed the first week we arrived in Puerto Rico). Since we hadn’t gone out to the movie and I had a little extra money for dinner, we ordered drinks served in coconuts, the appetizer sampler, entrees, and cheesecake for Glenn’s dessert. The waiter, who I told was Glenn’s birthday, brought out the cheesecake with a candle. It was a nice thing for Glenn, because I hadn’t been able to make him a cake this year.

We stayed at the restaurant for several hours, talking and enjoying the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, which was about 20 feet away from where we were sitting. Between the movement of the clouds, we could see several recognizable stars and constellations. It was a wonderful evening.

The rest of the week has been busy: I with homework (just one more essay to go!) and Glenn with his research on high schools in the west part of Puerto Rico. In addition, Glenn brought his resume over to the school I mentioned previously, where Dave and Sunna’s kids go, and the Principal seemed very pleased and eager to have Glenn work there as a substitute. It’s an English school and apparently, they get sick calls daily from their teachers. Glenn may end up being busier than I am!

Next week begins the course enrollment period for Englex, the company that hired me, so within the next couple of weeks I should be assigned my first students.

Things are going very well! We have even (almost) finished setting up our apartment. The living room is the only room that came with furniture, and even though they are old, smelly, and uncomfortable, we’ve kept them for now so that we can save a bit of money. It’s also a bit messy right now since we need to buy a couple of organizational units for our important things.

View pictures of our apartment, plus more, by going to “Photos” and then “Puerto Rico,” or by clicking here.

Hi Rachel,
I’m from Massachusetts, and just stumbled upon your blog b/c I was looking for information about the weight room and hours of operation at the Rincon Sports Complex (nobody answers the phones there; and yes, I’ve been researching a move to Western PR). Your blog came up as a hit on Google b/c one of your posts mentioned your visit to that facility. And since your bio says weight lifting is one of your interests, and since Glenn works with athletes, I figured I might be able to get an educated answer to a question critical to my move: are there gyms with good quality weight rooms in Western PR? I’m talking about squat racks, benches, dumbbells that go up to 120 lbs, space to deadlift (possibly a trapbar a.k.a. hexbar), cable pulley machine, olympic plates, etc. You can email me back or post your reply (I’m now a ‘follower’, so I’ll probably ask more questions; love your blog!). Thanks, and good luck with your studies and language teaching. ~Michael

Hi Michael! It’s great to hear from you and to know that you’re going to be moving to Western PR! We have been rather impressed, actually with the gyms here in Mayaguez as there are several to choose from and they all seem to have a nice variety of equipment. I think you will find what you’re looking for here (there is even a Crossfit gym!). If you have an idea of what city/town you will be moving to, we can give you the inside scoop on the gyms there. Shoot me a message through my e-portfolio (http://rachellarusso.wordpress.com/contact/) and I’ll be able to email you back. Thanks so much for reading – and following! – my blog!